A Summer of Travel - Part 3

My final saga of my summer travel experience...! Poland & Italy

After leaving Morocco, I flew to Poland on RyanAir - which was an experience in itself because my checked bag cost almost double what my ticket cost! 

Leaving Morocco a week early to spend a week in Poland was so worth it! I met a friend, named Kamila in Morocco, we shared a room in the extern/intern house. We became friends immediately - after I cracked a few jokes ;) 

I swear if Kamila and I lived closer together we would be inseparable! She is an amazing graduate veterinarian from Poland and we have so much in common. I was lucky since I didn't know a lick of Polish that her English was really good! I have so many good memories from Poland - I can't wait to go back! 

Of course, my trip to Poland started out with a horse show! Kamila was an assistant veterinarian for the show - luckily we didn't see a lot of action other than the jumping competition! 

 We toured a local salt mine! There were a lot of stairs, but it was a really cool tour and the best part was you could lick the walls - although I preferred not too! You can also get married there in this ballroom/hall made entirely out of salt! It's amazing what you can find in this world.

 And any trip to Poland is not complete if you don't ride a Hucul pony through the Polish forest. It was nothing like renting horses in America - they tailor your ride to your experience level and of course we got ourselves on a couple of green horses and headed into the dense, green Polish forest! We encountered a soccer team running in the woods on our trail ride and of course our horses decided to run for their lives. Kamila fell on her horses neck, but luckily she was able to pull herself back up and into the saddle to slow her horse down! It was truly an unforgettable experience!

Zakopane

Wroclaw

I was truly blessed by Kamila's family's hospitality and that of her boyfriend - they drove me around everywhere to all the amazing sites! These pictures barely capture what Poland was all about! Full of churches, castles, amazing parks - and the food! Oh my, the Polish cuisine is so delicious! I had ample opportunities to sample the Polish food and I was never disappointed! 

Kamila and I at Wawel Castle

I was very sad for my week in Poland to end and I can't wait to see Kamila again! I hope she comes to California some day so I can show her around and give her the amazing experience she gave me in Poland! I wouldn't trade our good times longing on the river beach or staying up late talking for anything! Poland is an amazing country! 

I felt lonely at first when I began my trip to Italy - I flew to Rome and had a little trouble finding my hostel which wasn't in the main part of town. The first thing I did when I got of the shuttle from the airport was buy a Roma Pass - it costs 30 Euro and lets you see two major sites for free and the best part is you have 3 days unlimited access to the public transportation - the buses and the metro. Since my hostel was several metro stops away from all the sights - it was very helpful - and best yet, you got to skip all the lines to the major sites! 

The Pantheon - My favorite site in Rome. I had dinner just outside - and of course I had spaghetti!

I loved the Italian water fountains! It was nice not to have to buy water!

I went from Rome to Florence by train - it wasn't a very long ride, just about 3.5 hours. Florence was a very different type of city. I spent 5 days there, but wish I had cut it short and went to Cinque Terre earlier. Not that I didn't enjoy Florence, but it was more touristy than I would have liked. My hostel was great though and I met some very nice people there from Australia. Some of my favorite Italian food was in Florence - they got the pasta thing right! I enjoyed my stay there - it was very warm during the summer! 

The famous Bridge!

Of course I would find horses in Italy! Here they are on their lunch break.

 I took a day trip from Florence to Pisa - where of course I had to see the leaning tower! It's really not as big as you would imagine, but it was in a really nice area. 

Here I am hugging the tower! I met a nice German guy who traveled with me that day and took my picture.

Of course, I did go to Cinque Terre - Where I could definatly see myself visiting again someday! It was amazing! I would love to post all my photos cause they are stunning, but how about I leave the adventure to you to go there someday? 

 There are 5 main towns and you can get to each one by car, boat, train or by walking. The train is literally on the mountain overlooking the coast - it is beautiful! I only spent two nights there, but I could have stayed here for a week or more! The food wasn't that expensive for it being a tourist attraction and honestly there weren't a ton of tourists. I swam in the ocean every day and there was so much salt that you could float on your back for ever! I even floated on my stomach! It wasn't very warm water, but not cold either, probably about 70-75 degrees. I did the hike through the five towns which took most of one day - but was so worth it! Some of the hiking is very easy, while other parts are very steep and narrow, but the majority of the time there are spectacular views. 

Lastly, I traveled to Milan where I stayed for 2 days then traveled back to London to head home. Milan was an industrial city - I had a terrible time finding my hostel, but was lucky to run into a couple from Belgium I believe who really helped me out by recommending the place they were staying. 

All in all, I had an amazing summer trip - filled with new friends, great times, spectacular views and adventure. It was wonderful to volunteer in Morocco even though it wasn't what I had expected. I plan to travel more in the future and hope I can also volunteer as a veterinarian around the globe. I look forward to new adventures and I have many aspirations to see this amazing world we live in.

If you are at all interested, I plan on making a retro post on my travels to South America - which was about 4-5 years ago.
 
 

 

Admissions - UC Davis Class of 2017

Every year, a new veterinary class is admitted to UC Davis to join the veterinary profession. When I applied things were very different in the admission process department. 

This year, 238 candidates will be interviewing for 138 places in the Class of 2017. The new admission process is in place and will be conducting interviews as Multiple Mini Interviews. In order to do this over 5 mornings, there are 24 interviews taking place at one time. Prospective students rotate through several rooms and are given different scenarios. Interviews wrap up today and then the class of 2017 will be carefully selected. 

"The MMI is a series of short, structured interviews used to assess personal traits/qualities. Each mini interview provides a candidate with three minutes to read a question/scenario and mentally prepare before entering the interview room. Upon entering, the candidate has seven minutes of dialogue with one interviewer/assessor (or, in some cases, a third party as the interviewer/assessor observes). At the conclusion of the interview, the interviewer/assessor uses the next three-minute period to evaluate while the candidate moves to the next scenario. This pattern is repeated through a circuit of up to 8 stations.  

The MMI was derived from the well-known OSCE (objective structured clinical examination) used by most undergraduate medical programs to assess a student’s application of clinical skills and knowledge. However, the MMI does not test knowledge of veterinary medicine but rather personal attributes such as communication skills and ability to work as part of a team,  ethical and critical decision-making abilities, and behaviors important to being a veterinarian such as empathy, honesty and reliability." 

Acceptances will be mailed in early January. When I applied, I was notified in late March/early April, but we started courses in September. 

For more information, visit UC Davis SVM admissions: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/students/dvm_program/admissions/index.cfm